Who would have thought?
by StarTrekAddicted
Summary: Just when Bosco and Faith seem to get along well, something terrible happens to her and they both have to cope with the consequences
1. Chapter 1

So this is the first FanFic I've ever posted. Just tell me what you think.

Disclaimer: Third watch or any of the characters do not belong to me. If they did Fred would have died in episode 1.

„Damn it, damn, damn…." Bosco came storming into the locker room unbuttoning his shirt on the run.

"Christopher`s gonna kill me"  
"Yeah, he probably will, seeing that you're late for the fourth time this week. Oh right , it's Wednesday how the hell did ya manage that?"

Faith was trying to be funny, as if he needed that right now. Bosco was now trying to put his shoes and belt on at the same time. It didn't really work and he almost fell to the ground.

"You could help me you know. Tell Christopher some excuse. Like I …..I had to go see a Doctor and that dumbass forced me to wait for an hour…?"

"Just like the last ten times you were late, Boz you're excuses suck. I'm gonna be in roll call. Maybe Christopher will have someone to go at…" with that Faith left the room slamming the door behind her.

"Great" Bosco sighed grabbing his jacket. As he was standing up it occurred to him that wearing a shirt over his bullet proof vest could be a good idea, if he didn't wanna be ass of the day at the precinct. This wasn't gonna be one of the good days…

***************

"I got our radios. Come on lets go." Faith shoved him the radio in the arms and made her way to the car, greeting some of her fellow Officers. Bosco was stunned:

"How the hell did you know Christopher wouldn't wanna talk to me. He would have given me desk duty for a week for being late."

Faith avoided his gaze searching the back seat of the car for any left things:

"I told him that your psychologist wanted to talk to you a while longer and he understood and said it was okay, but you shouldn't be late again."

"Thanks Faith. I won't be…." Just then he realized what she had been saying:

"My psychologist? You told him I was seeing a shrink? Faith I'm gonna kill ya. He'll tell everybody that I've gone nuts and I'll be …" he didn't finish his sentence because Faith was staring at him trying to hold back a laugh:

"I figured if he was to busy gloating about you being crazy he wouldn't complain about you're being late again. And he didn't so it worked and you should be down on your knees right now thanking me for saving you a week of boring paper shuffling."

"I would have preferred a week instead of looking like a crazy fool." Bosco grumbled but both he and Faith knew that wasn't true. He absolutely despised desk duty.

Trying to change the subject he turned to Faith:

"You know ever since you and Fred separated you've been a little sarcastic and mean. What did he do? Take your levelheadedness with him?" he mocked her.

"Yeah maybe. But I wish he would have taken his problems with him. Everyday someone calls me asking if he's home and when I say he's not, they say he has some debts, about $10000. And they say if he doesn't pay soon they'll go get him. I just don't get it. Every time I tell these asses that I really couldn't care less about him they just keep telling me that they'll call again."

So this wasn't a good topic. Now she'd be going on all shift and the last thing Bosco needed was a whole shift of marital problems. But he tried to be polite. He didn't wanna piss off Faith again.

"So why don't you just get a new phone number. They won't bother you then. And tell Fred to take care of this shit."

Faith was furious now.

"Oh, I'm not talking to him ever again. And I already called the phone company to get a new number. They said it'll take a few days. And anyway, I don't care if they arrest him and put him in jail or ship him of into the arctic. I don't want to have anything to do with him any more."

After this Bosco just kept looking at the streets barely listening to his partners ranting about Fred, his stupidity and his problems. He wasn't gonna get a minute of quiet until they got a call. So Bosco settled into a half sleeping state. This call would better be coming soon…

But even after they had had to go to a traffic accident scene , Faith was still worked up about this. Man Bosco hadn't known that she could get so furious about something. It was really quite charming. The way she kept on recounting every day of her marriage with Fred. Spitting his name… This jag off was really not what you'd consider a loving, faithful husband.

So after about four hours of this stuff, Faith was just getting to her second year of marriage, Bosco couldn't take it anymore

"Why the hell did you marry him anyway if he's such a son of a bitch. I could have been a better husband than he was."

Faith stared at me for a second before turning her eyes on the road again. She looked confused while Bosco tried to get what he had just said.

"Well, I guess we were in love. Kind of. But maybe we were both to young. Am I getting on your nerves" she added after a short pause looking at Bosco.

"I mean I don't want to dump my problems on you, but I'm just so mad at him right now."

She looked at him with pleading eyes, daring him to understand. But he knew already, he'd known her so long.

"Nah, it's okay. Let's just talk about something different now, okay? You can tell me about the next ten years of your marriage tomorrow, right."

"Right." She was grinning now.

The rest of the shift passed uneventfully. But Bosco kept thinking about what he had said about him being a better husband. Would he really be better? He had never thought about it because you didn't ask a chick after a one night stand if she thinks you're gonna be a good husband one time. And did he mean a better husband in general or to Faith especially? But Bosco really didn't want to think of his partner that way, so he shoved the thoughts in the darkest corner of his brain, concentrating on the car they were just following.

*******************

"This is so stupid. I hate to get a call this late we should've ditched it. Left it to Sully and Davis." Bosco was leaning over the desk trying to remember if the code for a street robbery was 45 or 54. Numbers weren't his strong suit. Faith was sitting at another desk, getting the robbers sheet ready. She had her jacket draped over a chair and her hair was undone. She looked real good like that. Bosco looked away before his thoughts could go further in that direction. There was no one else around, because the Third watch had already left and the First Watch was out on the streets.

"I'm finished. How about you?" Faith looked at her partner who looked at his paper. He still didn't know the code. But to hell with it.

"Yeah sure. I'm finished." Faith looked at him, frowned, but got up. On the way to the door she said:

"It's 54 Boz. I'll be in the locker room." As she walked away Bosco couldn't help wondering how the hell she knew that he didn't remember the number. But then again, what did she not know? He scribbled the code down and dumped the sheet and followed Faith into the locker room.

She was just undressing and had her vest already of. As she went over to the sink in a close fitting tank top she looked real sexy. Get a hold of yourself this is your partner, Bosco thought just as Faith tripped on a shoe that someone had left on the floor. Out of reflex Bosco raised his arms and caught her. She stared at him with wide eyes as she lay in his arms. In that instance Bosco just thought to hell with partner and leaned in to her to kiss her.

At first she was too stunned to do anything but then her soft lips pressed against his and she returned the kiss. After what seemed an eternity to Bosco they broke the kiss and he straightened her so that she could stand unsupported. Faith stared at Bosco unbelievingly.

"What the hell was that?" she whispered. The man looked at her unsure of what to expect. Would she hit him? Or would she be as pleasantly surprised as he was right now.

"Uhm I'd say that was me kissing you" he stated looking into her eyes. At first her expression didn't change, but then she smiled. Taking a step towards him she kissed him again intertwining her fingers with his hair. Bosco returned the kiss passionately, wondering what the hell had just happened when the locker room door opened.

"Well look who's here. Boscorelli and Yokas. Who would have thought." came Sully's voice from the open door. Faith and Bosco broke their kiss hastily, staring at Sully and Davis standing at the entrance.


	2. Chapter 2

So I've been in a bad mood all day. Ergo this will not turn out as fairytale like as I'd planned.

***************

"Come on, Sully. Let's leave them alone. I don't wanna see what happens next." Davis said with a smirk on his face. He dragged Sully out of the room and winked at the two before closing the door.

Bosco was still too stunned to notice that Faith left his embrace and grabbed her thinks from her locker. But when she slammed the door shut he found his way back into reality:

"Where are you going?" he demanded. Faith seemed to blush when she looked at him and said:

"I gotta go home. We'll talk tomorrow, okay?" she murmured and left the room before Bosco could say anything. Now he was confused. First she kissed him back and then she just disappeared. He could kill Sully and Davis for barging in at the worst moment. What the hell was he gonna do? Apparently Faith didn't wanna talk about what had happened, but Bosco couldn't understand why she would kiss him a second time. Did he screw things up or was it just the fact that their collegues knew that there was more going on between Faith and him.

Or was there? Bosco didn't really know why he had kissed his partner, he just did and that was nothing he regretted. He decided to go home after all, because he was at a loss for words he could say to her.

When he left the building he was grateful no one tried to talk to him and upon entering his apartement he changed into something comfortable and sat on the couch listening to the chaotic noises from outside.

He couldn't tell how long he had said there staring at the black TV, contemplating what had happened, when the phone rang. First he wanted to ignore it, but then it came to his mind that this could be Faith and so he picked up.

"Yeah?" he grumbled.

"Mr. Boscorelli?" said a voice that was definitely not Faith's. Bosco almost slammed the phone down then.

"Who else would it be?"

"Uhm, right. This is Angel of Mercy Hospital. A Faith Yokas was just brought in and her husband apparently doesn't want to come. And someone said you're her partner… and we figured… we should call…" the voice was waiting for him to say something, but he was too shocked to talk. What was Faith doing in a hospital? Why hadn't he gone to her? After what seemed minutes he finally had the courage to croak the most important question:

"Is she okay?"

"She has a broken wrist and some scratches and bruises, but nothing serious…"

"I'll be right in" with this words Bosco terminated the call and grabbed a jacket and car keys and was out of the door. She was gonna be okay, it was nothing serious. They'd probably just called so that someone could pick her up and get her home safely.

He parked his car in front of the hospital ignoring the no parking sign and hurried to the front desk. Nurse Procter was filling out a form so he asked her where Faith was. The moment he saw her face he knew something was very wrong.

"Bosco, I don't know if she wants you there…"

"I don't care if she wants to see me. I just need to see that she is alright. So which room?"

"Look she is in Exam 2. But you should really not go in there. You don't know what happened to her." Bosco, who had already been on his way turned on his heels.

"What do you mean? What happened?" he hissed. Procter looked at him, then placed the stack of papers she had had in her hand on the desk and motioned him to follow into a lounge.

She then faced him and recounted:

" She was brought in about an hour ago by two Officers of the 89th. They'd found her sitting in an alley somewhere. She didn't talk so they looked in her bag and found her badge. They figured se was attacked and brought her here. She has a broken wrist and bruises all over her body. She still doesn't say anything, but the Doctor assumes that she might have been raped…"

Right then Bosco's head began spinning. This couldn't be. This was Faith she knew how to look after herself. And she didn't say anything so this was just a theory. Nonetheless just to think of someone attacking her… it made him absolutely furious.

"Raped?" he asked through clenched teeth.

"We cannot be sure since she refuses to talk. But someone is on the way… Now you know why you shouldn't go in there."

"No. I'll go see her now. She'll talk to me." He was confident that she would after all they'd been partners for years.

He ignored Procter's pleading "Bosco…" and pushed at the door to the exam rooms. He saw her the moment he entered the corridor. She was sitting on a bed behind a window and he almost choked when he took in her expression and posture. She looked broken and older then she had two hours ago. She had her arms, one hand bandaged, round her body as if to hold herself together, to stop herself from falling apart. Her face was white and added contrast to the bruises on her cheek and her split lip. Her expression was empty, bereft of any emotion. She looked completely forlorn.

Bosco tried to compose himself, tried to keep his anger towards the one who did this from being overwhelming, opened the door and took a tentative step toward her. She didn't show any reaction when he laid a hand on her bed. He didn't dare touch her for fear he'd hurt her, but he said as softly as he could:  
"Faith… Faith, please look at me…" At the sound of her partners voice Faith lifted her head, directing her face at him, but not seeing him. Her eyes stayed unfocused, staring at whatever horrors she had experienced. Bosco's anger grew when he saw her like this. He was going to hunt down whoever did this and then he'd kill him slowly and painfully, but first he had to make sure Faith was gonna be better.

He placed his hands on either side of her face and forced her to look him in the eyes.

"Faith, look at me… Everything's gonna be okay, you understand. I'm gonna take care of you, you hear me. I'm gonna take care of you and I'm not leaving until you're better."

Finally her eyes focused on him and filled with tears. Bosco pulled her in is arms and held her while she sobbed, her arms clasped him, holding on for dear life.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry it took so long, but I was really busy at school.

Thanks for the reviews and keep at it

*************

Neither Bosco nor Faith could say how long they sat on this hospital bed, unmoving, unthinking. Time had no meaning. There was only pain, hurt, anger. And although Bosco was there to comfort Faith, he realized, he needed her as much as she needed him right now. Her misery was the only thing that kept him from going after this bastard, from murdering him in cold blood. Her need for him was what kept him from surrendering to the woefulness of life, of the human race. He didn't think about the reason for such violence, didn't think why someone could hurt anybody like this, didn't think why it had to be Faith, because he knew thoughts like that would only increase his pain. There was no way he was ever gonna understand the sick mind of murderers and rapists and now he concentrated on getting Faith better, getting her out of the black hole she had been in since… he couldn't even think about it. What had she done to deserve this?

The sound of a door opening brought Bosco out of this dreamlike state. In the door frame stood a woman, that was clearly a doctor.

"Mrs. Yokas? I'm Dr. Younger. I'm sorry to bother you, but I've got to examine you for any further injuries." She didn't look comfortable, staring from Bosco to Faith and back. He realized that no one had told her what exactly his relationship with Faith was. He decided this whole thing would be easier, if he was gonna leave the two woman alone for a while. He disentangled Faith's strangling grip and raised her head so that he could see her eyes. He noticed that the spark that normally gave her eyes something unusual, was gone. There was no life in these eyes. And that was when he made a decision, he was gonna care for her, he was gonna rekindle that spark.

"Faith… Faith, I'm gonna get you a drink, okay? The doctor here's gonna examine you and by the time she's done I'll be back, you understand?"

She stared at him for a moment and then gave weak nod. So Bosco slid off the bed and passed the doctor, who was still standing at the door When he reached the door to the ER he looked back, but could only see a green curtain, that was now surrounding her bed.

The moment he knew Faith couldn't see him anymore, his calm façade slipped and his anger and fury overwhelmed him. With a loud cry he punched the wall so hard that the dull green paint cracked under his fingers, but the physical pain wasn't enough to supersede the worry and pain he felt for Faith. He was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't hear the laughter at first that came from behind him.

"What the hell are you trying to do now, Bosco. Has your hatred towards hospital compelled you to try and tear it down with bare hands?" came Davis voice from the desk. Sully was standing beside his partner, grinning widely. Bosco tried to ignore them and slid to the floor with his back against the wall, shielding his face with both hands.

"Man, seriously. You would be better of with a tank or a missile or something. But you always wanna do it the hard way, right?" Sully said elbowing Davis in the side. They both were laughing. Bosco wanted to kill them, didn't they realize it was better not messing with him right now. Didn't they know what had happened to her? He clenched his fist to keep himself from getting on his feet and wiping that laughter of their face. He figured they would go away if he acted normally.

"Very funny, Sully. Did they forget to lock the door of the nuthouse or why are you here?"

"We're working a double today. You do know what work is, do you? Anyway that's why we stumbled into the locker room earlier. And we saw…"

"Shut up and mind your own business, Sully." Well, maybe acting normally wasn't a good idea after all. He should have known that Sully would make jokes about him and Faith kissing.

"Hey, a bit touchy are we now? What did she do, punch you for being an ass?" Sully couldn't just let go. But Davis seemed to sense that something wasn't right so he pulled at Sully's arm:

"Come on, leave him alone. We'll just ask Faith tomorrow. She'll tell us."

As Sully didn't move he added: "Come on the sooner we finish up on that rape victim, we can go do something funny."

"Rape?" Bosco was stunned. This couldn't be. It was impossible that Faith had to talk to her friends about this. There had to be another victim at the hospital. But Davis next sentence destroyed that hope.

"Yeah, apparently she was brought in earlier by some guys from the 89th but it seems that they are too busy over there to take her statement. So we were send to do the paper work for them. She's in exam 2 and we have to get over there now."

"You're not going anywhere near her. You're not going through that door, you understand me?" he couldn't let that happen. He had to talk to Faith first, if she wanted to talk to Sully and Davis or rather someone she didn't know. This was her decision.

"Man, what's up with you. You got something to with that girl? She your girlfriend of the week?" Sully giggled. This insult was the last straw. Boscos's last bit of restrained slipped away. He sprang to his feet and grabbed sully by his collar smashing him into the wall. More pain cracked. After a second Davis had his hands around him, pulling him back, but Bosco struggled to get loose. He wanted to hurt Sully for talking like that about Faith, he wanted to hurt someone, he wanted to kill that bastard. But the tumult had brought a security guy on the scene and together with Davis he managed to pin Bosco to the wall and hold him there. But that only increased his anger.

"You son of a bitch! You dare call her that again and I'm gonna kill you. You hear that? I'm gonna kill you. You're scum. I don't know why she even bothers talking to you. Why she even likes you…"

"What do you mean, talking to Sully…"

"Shut the hell up, Davis. She' nice to you. She worries about you when you have to call for back up. She puts up with you're complaining. She puts up with my crap the whole day and still wants to hang out with me. She is the best and kindest person I've ever met, and then that bastard comes along and hurts her like this. And you have nothing else to do than insult her and make jokes about her? You bastard…"

Davis let go of Bosco and turned at him with shock apparent on his face.

"Wait a minute. That victim, are you saying… I…I mean it can't be, can it?"

"Just leave." He had seen the doctor coming out of Faith's room and he wanted to be there. He didn't want her to be alone. So he pushed Davis and the guard to the side shot a last glare at Sully and stomped of.

When he entered the room Faith was lying on her bed staring at the dirty white ceiling. But as soon as she heard him enter she looked at him. He could see the tears running down her cheek and walked over to her bed to wipe them away. When he withdrew his hand, she curled her fingers around his wrist and pulled him closer, staring at him.

"You were shouting out there. I was worried something happened to you."

At first he was glad she had found the courage to speak, but then he realized why.

"Faith, you don't need to worry about me. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have made you worry. And you know I can take care of myself. Don't worry about me. I'm Bosco remember?"

he tried to flash a grin at her to reassure her, but he doubted that it was very convincing. She still looked terrible.

"You know, I used to think I could take care of myself, too. But then… Oh God, Boz…"

She was crying again and he knew there was nothing he could do to make her feel better right now, but he had to try.

"Sh, everything is gonna be okay. I'm here…"

"I know you are, but how can I ever take care of myself again. I didn't even have a chance to fight. How can I protect people, if I can't even protect myself?"

***********

So wat do you think?


	4. Chapter 4

So here it is finally. I was a little preoccupied cause my mom told me she's pregnant again and I had to write another story. But now I had time... and tata I present the fourth chapter. Hope you like it.

**************

"Faith, I'm gonna find that bastard and then I'm gonna take care of him. He'll never get near you again. You hear me? There's nothing you need to worry about." Yeah, that bastard needs to worry about me finding him, though, Bosco added in his thoughts.

"No, don't you run off searching for him. He'll hurt you." Her panicked face almost convinced him to sent Davis and Sully and stay behind with his partner, but then he saw all the bruises on her face and her bandaged hand and he came to the decision that the only thing that could calm him was hitting the crap out of that bastard. So he said nothing to Faith, hoping that they could avoid that particular topic. And he was lucky, because right at that moment he heard a knock at the door and saw Davis standing there.

"Can we come in?" he asked cautiously, looking at them. Bosco didn't know, if Faith was okay with this, she probably would be, but he wanted to be sure.

"Faith, is that okay?"

"Yeah, I guess so…" she seemed better now, but she never let go of him and he didn't intend to let go of her just now.

Davis stepped into the room closely followed by Sully. Both had their eyes on Faith and their expression turned into a mixture of shock and anger, when they saw her cuts and bruises.

Finally Davis spoke:

"Faith, …umh…we were sent here to ask you what happened tonight, but if you'd prefer to talk to someone else, that's fine with us. Do you want us to take the report?" He waited a moment for her to answer and as she nodded he continued cautiously.

"Well,… can you tell us exactly what happened after we last saw you?" he didn't look as though he really wanted to know, but apparently it was easier for him, if he clung to the routine right now. Bosco watched Faith taking a shaking breath. He tightened his grip around her, hoping to make her feel safer.

"I left the house and headed for the train station. I got on the train and decided to get off one stop before mine. I needed to think and figured it would be nice to walk. Then I was walking by an alley and saw someone moving there. I thought maybe it was a homeless guy, but I wanted to check. I took a few steps toward the alley and … someone sprang at me from behind. I…I tried to get my gun, but my bag was lying on the ground a few feet away. Then I hit him,… he was bleeding… he still held my arm… it hurt…and I could hear the bone break…"

Faith's voice, that had sounded so detached at the beginning, broke at her last words and tears were running down her cheeks. Bosco knew she couldn't go on and shot a glance at Davis that told him to shut the hell up, if he wanted to walk out of that room. The cop understood.

"Okay Faith, we need you to come to the house, look at some photos… not today, though"

Sully added hastily when he saw Bosco staring at him.

When Davis asked if they should get Faith home, Bosco told them he'd take her and they didn't argue, because they saw that nothing they could say or do would make things better at the moment. Standing in the door Sully turned around to look at Bosco and Faith.

"Look, man. About what I was saying out there? I'm truly sorry. I didn't know. And Faith? We're gonna get him. I promise."

With that the two police officers were gone and Faith and Bosco were alone again. But not for long, because the doctor stepped in to tell them that Faith could leave now, if she felt up to it.

"I've got your things here, so you can get dressed." She was holding a bundle of clothes and a handbag in her hands, but when she wanted to give them to Faith, she shook her head.

"I don't want them. You can donate the clothes. Just give me my purse, gun and keys."

"But ma'am, you have to get something on. We're not allowed to let patients keep the hospital…"

"You can keep the robe, Officer. Just return it when you're here the next time." Mary Procter said from the doorway. Apparently she was not impressed with the new doctor.

"Should I call you a cab?" she added still glaring at the doctor, who was just handing Faith what she wanted to have.

Bosco wasn't going to let his partner ride alone in a cab. And anyways, she was still holding onto him and didn't seem to have any intention of letting go. So he told Procter calling a cab wouldn't be necessary and turned to Faith.

"Are you ready to go home?"

She nodded and after a last glare at the doctor who was still holding the clothes and a goodbye to the nurse, they left the room. They proceeded through the ER and out of the hospital, all the while Bosco was holding Faith close to him and she seemed to find comfort in that. He certainly did.

The two got in the car, that had fortunately not been towed despite the no parking sign, and drove in silence. When they arrived at her building, Bosco got out of the car and opened her door. She was still pale white and her fingers were ice cold. Therefore he hurried to the door dragging her behind him. Standing at her door she struggled to unlock it, her hands trembling. He gently took the keys out of her hands and opened the door.

First thing he noticed was that Fred's absence obviously did the place a lot of good. It seemed friendlier than the last time he'd seen it.

While he was still looking around, Faith had thrown herself on the couch and grabbed a pillow. She was still wearing that hospital gown.

"Faith. You need to change. You can't sit there the whole night. Come on, I'll wait here."

She stared at him for a while and then nodded. Getting up she headed towards the bedroom, while Bosco sat down. He heard her moving around and thought about how she must be feeling right now. He clenched his fist. That bastard was gonna pay. And soon. Although Faith seemed worried about him getting in trouble he was determined to hunt him down and preferably kill him. He was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't hear her until she talked.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing. Just how the day turned out."

"We need to talk."

"Yeah I guess we do."

He didn't want to talk about what had happened to her, but at the moment he would do so much more to comfort her. She sat down next to him leaning her head to his shoulder.

"I was thinking about what happened in the locker room…" he was surprised that she wanted to talk about that, but he wasn't going to complain.

"And…?"

"Why did you do it?"

He was quiet for a long moment, he could feel her shifting the head to look at him. What was he gonna say? He didn't want to say anything that might upset her. So he settled with the easiest answer.

"I don't know really. I care so much about you. We've been partners for so long and I don't want anything to come between us. Not even ourselves. Maybe I just wanted to explore a new path. But if you don't want to, that's okay."

She looked at him for a while and then got up.

"Do you mind staying here for the night? I…I don't want to be alone. You could sleep on the couch and have a pyjama of Fred's. Please, Bos."

What the hell was she thinking. He had intended to stay from the beginning, but there was no way he was wearing one of her ex-husbands pyjamas.

"Faith, of course I will stay. You don't need to go through Fred's things, though. I'll sleep in my T-shirt."

She looked at him with grateful eyes and then went to get a pillow and blanket. After he'd settled, they said good night.

Bosco glanced at the clock. It was 4 o'clock now, but he couldn't sleep. He was worried about Faith. She had avoided any topic that was related to what had happened to her and she was so calm now. He felt that she was pretending everything was alright. His fears were confirmed when he heard her sobbing. Without hesitance he got up and pushed the door to her bedroom open. She was lying on the bed curled up in a ball. He sat on the edge, stroking her arm.

"Faith, everything's gonna be okay."

She turned and grabbed his arm pulling him closer.

"Stay here, please. Just hold me…" she mumbled with tears in her eyes.

So Bosco lay down next to her, wrapping his arms around her until she was too exhausted to cry anymore and finally fell into an uneasy slumber. After confirming that she was asleep, he too closed his eyes and drifted off into sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks for the reviews, hope this chapter will be better than the last one. Didn't take me as long to write, because I finally know where I want this to go. I expect there will be about 2 or 3 chapters left.

****************

He woke to her whimpering. He didn't know how long she'd been awake, but she couldn't have slept more than three or four hours. E started stroking hr hair again and felt her tending up. Wen she looked up at him, he could see that her eyes were red from all the crying.

"I'm sorry I woke you. I didn't mean… it's just, I was having nightmares…"

"Shsh, Faith, it's okay. We need to get up anyway. If you're up to it, we have to go to the house and look at those photos."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she answered.

"I suppose we have to, right? But you have to get to work. And I can't, because of my wrist. So maybe I should go alone, you know. You don't have to go with me."

He lifted her head so she had to look into his eyes.

"Faith, I'm not going to work today. I'm going with you. And I will stay with you as long as that son of a bitch is on the loose. You understand me? I'm here for you. And now I suggest you go take a shower and I fix breakfast."

She looked at him for a while and then got up. At the door she turned.

"Thanks, Bos. For staying."

After Faith got out of the shower, they ate breakfast. Although she didn't wanna eat anything at first, he convinced her that she had to, if she wanted to survive the day.

Afterwards, they drove to the precinct. Bosco parked his car in his usual spot and went to open Faith's door. He waited for her to get out, but she didn't move. He crouched down, so that he could look at her.

"Faith, you alright?"

"You think they know? You think Sully and Davis told them?"

"I don't think so. Not if they want to talk to me ever again, without me ripping their throats out."

"Okay."

The two entered the building and were immediately spotted by the Lieutenant.

"Boscorelli, you're early. First time in years."

"Hey, Lieu, actually I'm not early. I just stopped by to tell you that I'm gonna need the day off and to talk to Sullivan and Davis."

Just as Swersky wanted to respond he spotted Faith and her bandaged arm.

"What happened to you, Yokas.?"

"Fell," she replied curtly. The Lieutenant raised his eyebrows, but didn't press the matter. Instead he turned to Bosco.

"Well, I wasn't gonna give you a day off, but if Yokas is out, you might as well stay at home. So no one has to ride alone."

"Thanks. And are Sullivan and Davis around? We need to talk to them."

"No, they're out on patrol. But I can call them in."

"Okay. Faith and I will wait in the locker room. Just tell them that we're here."

Bosco then grabbed Faith's arm and dragged her into the locker room, where they sat down on the bench. She leaned against him. They didn't speak until the door opened and another cop came in.

"You okay here for a minute? So I can get a soda," Bosco whispered to her. When she nodded he left the room to buy a soda at a vending machine. On his way back, he heard his name. Listening closely he realized Sully and Davis must have come back and were just talking to Swersky.

"So are you gonna tell me, why I had to call you, so you could talk to Boscorelli?"

"He probably just wants to tell us something about an on going investigation or something." That was Davis' voice.

"Really? Well, this better don't take long, cause I need you out on the street not in here," Swersky grumbled and then added:

"And anyway, why's Yokas acting so strange? She tells me she fell, but has so many cuts and bruises you could think she was run over by a truck. And even weirder, she's clinging to Boscorelli like a limpet."

"We don't know anything about that, Lieu, do we now, Davis."

"No, nothing."

Bosco decided that he'd heard enough and returned to Faith to tell her that Sully and Davis were back. He guided her out of the locker room and they immediately ran into the other two cops.

"Hey Faith. Hey Bosco. Boss told us you were here. Uhm, I imagine that you want to get this over with as soon as possible. So… I think we can use the detective's room. They're out in the moment, no one will disturb us."

Bosco looked at Faith to see if she was okay with Sully's suggestion, she nodded.

"Okay."

They climbed the stairs and Davis started the computer. Faith knew the drill, so she waited until the program was loaded and then entered some features she remembered of this guy, so she could narrow it down. She seemed relatively calm, but Bosco knew that she was only acting. She couldn't fool him. He rested his hand on her shoulder and she grasped it.

"Okay. Just take a look at all the photos. Don't rush. Go back if you're not sure. We don't want to miss the right guy," Sully reminded her.

Again she nodded. Bosco was stressed. What if she didn't recognize him? What if he wasn't on file? How were they gonna find him then? But he knew that he wouldn't stop looking until he'd found and punished that bastard.

Faith looked at the mug shots for over ten minutes, before she found him.

"Oh, god. That's… that's him. That's the guy, who…" she stammered, her whole body trembling. Bosco pulled her up and wrapped his arms around her. But Davis and Sully needed her affirmation.

"You sure it's him? Really sure?"

She nodded, her face buried in Bosco's chest. He barely listened to what Davis was telling him about the perp.

"Says here, he got arrested for assault a couple of times. Nothing serious though. His probation officer left a note that he's got a job with a company to collect debts. Seems he's the one for the dirty work."

Bosco focused when he heard Davis say debts.

"Faith. Faith, didn't you tell me someone was calling you because Fred owes them money?"

She looked up.

"Yeah. But…" he didn't let her finish.

"Son of a bitch. I'm gonna kill Fred. Can't he take care of his business on his own?"

"You mean… Fred didn't pay, so they threatened him, that they would do something to his wife? But don't they know that he doesn't live with Faith anymore?"

Davis' look was incredulous, but Bosco assured him that debt collectors like that didn't really care about that. So this was all Fred's fault. As soon as he'd dealt with the perp, he'd make sure Fred never came near Faith again. Even if that meant cutting both his legs off.

Faith was still stunned.

"You think Fred…"

"Yeah, I think Fred," he said through clenched teeth.

Just as she was about to answer, the door burst open and Swersky entered.

"What the hell are you doing here. I wanna now what's going on, NOW. Boscorelli's requested a day off and is still at the house. What plan has…"

He stopped abruptly taking in the scene before him. Bosco was still holding Faith close and she was clinging to him. Sully and Davis had moved in front of the computer screen, so that the Lieutenant couldn't see what was on it.

"Boss, please. You don't wanna know. Trust me," Bosco pleaded. But Lieu didn't look as though he would give up on the subject.

"You can tell him, as long as he doesn't tell anybody." Faith whispered, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Tell me what exactly? What's going on here?"

He looked at Bosco, because he was always the prime suspect, if something odd happened. But the officer couldn't say anything. So finally, Sully moved forward.

"Uhm,… yesterday we were called to take a statement from a rape victim at Mercy…"

"Yeah, I remember. You were on it for like, two hours. Some other officers were really pissed. Normally, I'd expect such a thing from Boscorelli, but not from you two here."

"Well, we looked for the perp on our own, because it was kind of personal. We really wanted to find him…"

"Personal?" Swersky asked, but when he caught the meaning of what Sully had just said and of Faith's and Bosco's behavior he gasped. He turned to look at her, she was now sitting at the desk looking at the face of her tormenter. As Swersky took in her expression, he just said three words:

"Go get him!"

**************

A/N It says in my profile that I'm from Germany so English is not my first language. But I've been learning it since I was ten, so that's about 8 years now. If there are any mistakes that I make frequently I'd appreciate it if you could tell me. I have to study for what you would probably call A-Levels (the german Abitur) so any criticism would be welcome.


	6. Chapter 6

So here it is. I hope you like it.

PS 24 days left till christmas!

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"He isn't at home, but a neighbor told Sullivan and Davis where he works. They're headed there now. Apparently it's a bar called "Amadeus":"

"That's just a few blocks from here!"

Since Davis and Sully had left, Bosco had tried to think of a way to join them in the hunt without getting Faith in any danger. This was his opportunity. He asked Swersky if Faith could stay for a while and joined her in the locker room. She was drinking her soda, staring at the wall.

"Faith, would it be okay if I left for an hour or so?"

She didn't look as if it was okay, but he hoped that she would say yes. Because if she said no, he would stay, but he would regret it the rest of his life. He really needed to get this guy himself. To avenge Faith. But she was more important right now than his own feelings and he would do nothing that would make her feel even worse. So he was grateful when she nodded. He turned to leave, but then he felt he needed to do something. He wrapped his arms around Faith and pulled her into a hug. Before he let her go he kissed her forehead gently. Then he left. There was a score to settle.

The walk to the Amadeus was short, but it gave him time to think about what he would do if he encountered that son of a bitch. Ever since he'd known Faith she was always confident, sure of herself. To see her so broken was the hardest thing he'd ever had to witness. The more he kept thinking about Faith and their time together, their happy moments before this had happened, the more he was convinced that he was gonna kill that son of a bitch, if no one would stop him. He quickened his steps.

As soon as he rounded the corner he saw 55-Charlie parked in front of the bar. Carefully he drew his gun and glanced through the window. The scene he saw had something surreal about it. Sul and Davis were pointing their guns at a man waving a knife. The other people didn't seem to notice anything and were just going about their business. Everything was bathed in a blue light, which made it look like an underwater environment.

He wasn't sure what Faith would have said in such a situation, but she probably would suggest the exact opposite of what he was planning to do now.

He slammed against the door and pointed his weapon at the perp. It was definitely the guy from the photo. But now that he had a clear view of him he could see that the guy was holding a gun to a woman's head. His abrupt entrance had distracted the other two for a second, so that the perp yanked the woman by her hair, until he had her in his arms. Great, he'd made a bad situation worse. And now the woman's head was in his line of fire and he couldn't risk shooting. Suddenly Davis lowered his gun.

"What are you doing?" Bosco hissed, but Davis ignored him.

"We all need to calm down here. No one wants this to end badly for anyone. We can talk."

Bosco couldn't believe what Davis was saying. He wanted this to end badly for someone. But just as he was about to tell everybody what he thought, he caught Sully glaring at him intently. Maybe it would be a good idea to wait a minute.

"I want outa here. If you don't let me go she dies." Shaking his gun to prove the point the bastard slowly advanced towards the door, dragging the woman behind. This was unbelievable, he was not going to let the guy leave. But again Davis was faster.

"You may go, if you leave her. Just let her go, and you get out of here."

Meanwhile the woman and her captor had reached the door. And then Bosco saw his chance. While trying to open the door the other man had made the mistake to be preoccupied with the door handle and didn't notice, that the woman was not covering him entirely anymore. Bosco squeezed one eye shut, aimed and pulled the trigger. Then three things happened simultaneously. First the woman fell, second the perp opened the door and stormed out and third all hell broke loose in the bar. But he didn't care. He'd seen the red on the bastards arm and knew he'd succeeded in getting him away from the woman, but now he had to chase him until he could finish his job. Without paying attention to the screams coming from behind him he stormed out onto the street. He looked around and could just see the red jacket running around the corner. He went after him, his weapon still clenched in his fist. Everytime he turned a corner he'd gained on his target, he was starting to hope that he'd get him soon, but then as he turned the corner at 56th street., he stopped.

There was no red jacket anywhere. He let out a cry of rage. It was impossible that the son of a bitch was around the next corner, he had to be here somewhere. In an alley maybe. And he was bleeding. There was no way that he'd gotten away from Bosco. And yet he was no where to be seen. He looked around. There had to be some way to find him. Then Bosco saw an entrance to an apartment building. He'd hide there if it was him being chased. He raised his gun and proceeded toward the entrance. He hesitated a moment and then glanced around the corner… and sighed in relief. He had found what he was looking for. Again he breathed in, preparing himself and turned around the corner, training his gun at the bastard, who was in turn pointing his gun at a humanly shaped lump on the ground. Another victim, Bosco supposed but then the lump stirred and he could see her blond hair and her frightened face. Bosco's heart stopped.

It was Faith.

******************

She was sitting on a bench in the locker room. The familiar sight of the sinks and stalls made her feel more comfortable. This was the first time, she was really alone since … it happened. Bosco'd had always been with her and she'd always felt his presence. Even now that he'd left the room, she knew he was still there. She took another sip from her soda. It too seemed comforting. But now she had time to think about everything that had happened. Seeing the mug shot was like a cold shower. Up until then she'd still expected that it was just a dream that she'd wake up any moment, in her apartment. The only thing to worry about, why her partner had kissed her. But nothing was easy now. Thinking about what had happened in the locker room seemed to be another lifetime ago. Another person. But still Bosco was with her. He'd come when she was in the hospital. He'd stayed with her the night. He'd hold her when she was having nightmares. And most of all he was there for her when she saw the photo. She kept thinking about what he'd done for her, when his voice startled her.

"Faith, would it be okay if I left for an hour or so?"

She was horrified. He couldn't leave. He was the only one that kept her from falling into pieces. But then he saw his face and knew immediately that it was something important that compelled him to ask her. And she knew that he'd stay if she told him that she wanted him to stay. She realized that she had to let him go, and he would be back. So she nodded. He felt his body relax and then heard him leave. But before she could start panicking, his arms wrapped around her and he pulled her close for a moment. Then he gently placed a kiss on her forehead and was gone.

She was alone. She kept thinking he'd be back soon, but that didn't really help. She was drowning in her thoughts, trying to think of nothing, but images of what had happened kept appearing in her head. Images about what _he_ had done to her, about what _he _had said to her. She was so deep in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed two cops coming in, until she heard a familiar name.

"Really weird, isn't it. I mean Boscorelli was always a bit strange. Riding with a woman all the time and then chasing everyone he doesn't like. But this is really something new. He's off duty and Lieu tells him about a rape suspect? And then he goes running off to catch that guy? I mean is he like mental?"

"He probably is. No one would do that."

Faith was shocked. Bosco had run off to get the guy? She couldn't believe it, she'd begged him not to. He wasn't gonna get hurt because she was too stupid to fight off an attacker. This was all her fault. The thought of Bosco chasing her attacker brought her out of her stupor. She left the locker room and went to find Swersky. She was determined to find Bosco before he'd do something stupid. She found the lieutenant at the front desk, speaking on the phone.

"Where is he?"

Swersky looked up, surprised. He covered the receiver with one hand.

"Yokas, you should wait in the locker room, I'm…"

"Where is Bosco? Where the hell is he? You tell me now."

She was on the verge of bursting into tears, everyone could see that. But Swersky tried to get her to calm down.

"Look, he'll be back soon…"

She didn't let him finish, but turned around yelling as loud as she could:

"Has anyone here seen Officer Boscorelli? Where is he?"

Everyone fell silent. Most of them knew Faith and always thought her to be calm and levelheaded. They were surprised to see her so disturbed. Finally someone answered.

"I think he followed Sullivan and Davis to that bar. The Amadeus."

As soon as she'd heard the name she was out of the building, running like hell toward the bar. She kept thinking about Bosco and how she didn't want anything to happen to him. She was trying to convince herself that she'd be there before he'd gone in. She turned the corner onto 56th street… and skidded to a stop. _He_ was here. Running toward her. When his eyes met her, she stopped breathing. She knew those cold, cruel eyes that were without compassion. It seemed that she was frozen, she couldn't move. So she didn't resist when he grabbed her by the hair, dragged her into an entrance and threw her to the ground. The sharp pain in her wrist brought her back. She tried to move. And then she heard him.

"Faith!"

Bosco was here. Trying to protect her. And now that bastard was pointing his gun at her partner. Everything was still for a moment and nobody moved. Then two shots rang through the silence. She saw Bosco fall and a gun landed with a thud on the ground beside her. But her torturer was still standing, clutching his hand to his chest. When he looked down at her, he reached for his gun, but she was faster. She grabbed the weapon and emptied it into his chest. She could see the blood that was immediately sprouting from his chest and saw him fall in slow motion. Then she struggled to her feet and now she could see her partner lying on the ground, unmoving. She started to run.

*************

Cliffhanger!!!

to see what happens next please, please review


	7. Chapter 7

I'm soooooo sorry I kept you waiting for so long. But I really didn't know what to write.

*********************

"Bosco! Oh my god Bos!" When she reached him, she fell down on her knees beside a pool of blood. She couldn't see where he was hit, but the amount of blood that was flowing out of his body frightened her. His eyes were closed, but at the sound of his name they fluttered open.

"Faith, I… I'm so sorry…"

"No, no Bos, stay with me. Help! Someone help me! Call 911!" She screamed desperately.

Now her police senses kicked in and she checked him for wounds. When she raised his arm gently, he grabbed her hand and his face distorted with pain. Apparently the bullet had grazed his side and left a wound that was bleeding badly.

"Bos, stay with me. You hear me? Stay the hell with me. Someone will call a bus and we'll get you to Mercy. Okay?"

He didn't speak, but his grip tightened. In that moment Faith could hear the sound of footfalls that were approaching. Frantically she searched for the origin and almost cried out in relief when she saw Davis running towards her. He was shouting something into his radio, but she didn't listen to what he was saying.

"Davis! Call a bus! He's hurt. God, he's hurt. He was shot. Get help…"

Now that someone else was here, she allowed herself to be overwhelmed with her emotions. Tears spilled over and she was sobbing hysterically. She barely heard what Davis was saying.

"55-Charlie to Central. We need a bus on the rush on this location. An off-duty officer was shot."

"10-4 55-Charlie. ETA is 2 minutes."

Davis kneeled next to them. He saw the wound and without speaking, he ripped of a part of Bosco's shirt and pressed it on the wound. The shred was immediately soaked with blood.

Faith stared at her partner's blood. He was loosing so much, but he was still conscious, staring at her with blue eyes. She thought there was regret in them, but she wasn't sure, because her vision was blurry from her own tears. Davis pressed harder and Bosco flinched, he gripped her hand tighter.

"Faith, where is he? Did Bosco get him?"

Sully had followed Davis and was now trying to figure out what was happening. He was carefully avoiding looking down at his friend lying bleeding on the ground. Faith stared at him for a moment and then she turned her head to where the body lay. Sully followed her gaze and then proceeded with his gun drawn.

Faith turned back to Bosco.

"That bastard is not going to hurt anyone ever again. We took care of that."

They could hear the sirens of the ambulance now and shortly afterwards Carlos and Kim turned around the corner. They knelt beside Bosco and started to work on him. They hooked him up to an IV and rolled him onto a stretcher. Faith winced as she saw the size of the pool of blood that had formed under her partner, when Kim and Carlos lifted the stretcher. But she didn't have time to think about it, because all the time Bosco hadn't let go of her and she was now running alongside him to the bus. She had to let go of him for a moment, as he was positioned in the back, but she climbed in after him and again grabbed his hand. Carlos climbed in behind her and shut the door. On their way to the hospital, Faith thought about the last time she had sat next to him in a bus. Then, he'd jumped out of a second storey window. Then she'd sat in the bus talking to him, she'd been proud of him. But now everything was so different. She was different. Their relationship was different. And he was barely conscious. He had trouble keeping his eyes open, let a lone talk, but there was still so much she wanted to talk to him about.

At Mercy Bosco was rolled into a trauma room, Faith tried to follow, but Carlos yanked at her arm and before she could do anything the glass doors closed.

"Let go of me, Carlos. I got to be in there. I can't leave him" she shouted, but before Carlos could react Kim was by his side.

"Faith, come on. We'll wait in the lounge. They'll do everything they can and I don't think it's that bad…"

It was these last words that convinced her to stop resisting. She knew Kim was a good Paramedic and she trusted her judgment. Or maybe it was easier believing it wasn't anything serious.

In the lounge she sat down and for the first time she noticed that her hands were shaking, but she was too numb to care about that until she felt another hand reaching for hers. For a happy moment she thought it was Bosco, but then she noticed that it was too small. She looked up and stared directly in Kim's compassionate eyes. Then she heard the door closing and could just make out Carlos' form leaving. She heard Kim chuckle.

"He isn't the guy who can stand emotional stuff, you know."

"Yeah, Bosco has difficulty with that, too. He always…"

Her voice broke. Bosco. She felt Kim grab her other hand.

"He's gonna make it, you know. I mean he's Bosco and… I don't know him that well, but I know that he'd never give up."

"But there was so much blood…"

"I know I saw it. But I don't think that there are any internal injuries, so probably all he needs is a transfusion. You know I was surprised that he wasn't wearing a vest."

"We weren't supposed to be there. He took a day off, you know and I can't work, because of my hand."

Faith weakly raised her bandaged arm to prove her point. She hadn't thought about it since she'd seen Bosco lying on the ground, covered in blood…

"Yeah, what happened to you anyway? You're pretty roughed up, too."

She could tell that Kim was trying to distract her, but she didn't want to be distracted right now. All she wanted was for a doctor coming to tell her Bos was gonna be alright. So her answer was brief.

"I fell down some stairs."

She drew her hands from Kim's and buried her face in them, shutting herself off from the world. She forced herself not to think about anything and waited for news.

**********************

Some time later the door opened and Faith's head shot up. She saw Mary Procter enter the room. She stood up looking at her anxiously.

"He's gonna be fine."

She collapsed in Kim's arms. All tension that had been building up vanished. Bosco was going to be okay. She cried and smiled at the same time.

After she had calmed down a bit she looked at Procter.

"Can I go see him? When's he going to be able to leave? Is he awake?"

"He won't be here long I suppose. He hates hospitals, right?"

She nodded.

"Well, he lost a lot of blood, but the artery that was hit wasn't a major one and they had no trouble stitching it up. He needs transfusions but only for the night, so he could be out here by tomorrow. He's awake right now, but I don't think you can talk to him long, because he'll get some pain meds."

Faith was already on her way to the door, when she realized that he'd probably be somewhere upstairs. She turned and before she could say anything, Procter smiled and said:

"I'll show you to his room."

They took the elevator and when they were alone Procter turned to her.

"Are you okay? I mean, you know, yesterday…"

"Yeah, I'm okay. Nothing to worry about," Faith lied.

As soon as the doors opened she was out and waited impatiently for Procter to tell which room he was in.

"He's in room 506. It's the third on the right."

Faith entered the room, leaving Procter standing at the elevator. She wanted to be alone with him.

The room was dimly lit and the only noise was the annoying beeping of his heart monitor. His eyes were closed and he was breathing evenly as she approached the bed. She reached for his hand and when she touched it his eyes fluttered open.

"Faith, you're here. I was worried…"

"Shsh, I'm okay. You should worry about yourself…"

This was so ridiculous. He was the one who got shot and he was worrying about her.

"I'm really tired you know."

"Yeah, Procter said they'd give you some pain meds. You'll probably sleep the whole night."

Before she could say anything else a nurse entered the room.

"I'm sorry. You've got to leave now. Officer Boscorelli needs to rest."

Faith stared at her, dumbfounded. Was that nurse actually thinking she would leave?

"I'm staying."

"But ma'am, you…"

"I won't leave. Either you're gonna accept that or we'll be in real trouble here."

The nurse stared at her for a second and then backed out. Fait turned and saw a huge grin on Bosco's face.

"What?"

"Nothing. You're just so stubborn. That's what I love about you," he mumbled his eyes barely open.

"You do?"

"Yeah. Why don't you stay here?"

"I won't go. I just told that freaking nurse."

"Nah, I mean here. I mean… that bed's big enough…"

She couldn't believe it. Was he actually inviting her to lie in his hospital bed? She was stunned for a moment but then thought what the hell. She climbed on the bed, carefully avoiding any tubes. She lay on her side one arm under her head the other on Bosco's.

He sighed.

"That's nice."

She could see that he was exhausted and could barely keep awake. She kissed him on the forehead and mumbled:

"I'm glad you're here, Bos."

Then she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

*****************

After Sully and Davis had finished at the crime scene, they drove to the hospital to see how Bosco was doing. Procter told them that he was okay and where his room was and they took the elevator to the fifth floor. They had intended to visit him, but when they opened the door and took in the scenery they decided against that.

Faith and Bosco lay on the bed, her arm on his chest and his hand in hers. They were sleeping soundly in each others presence. I was a picture of deep love and trust.

Davis and Sully shut the door. They were not going to disturb that picture.

****************

You weren't really thinking I'd kill Bosco, were you? I just love seeing them together too much to do that.

hope you like it. Next chapter will be Bosco/Faith talk


	8. Chapter 8

I'm absolutely sorry it took so long, but I sisn't know how to finish this. I still don't, but I didn't want to leave for three weeks and leave this story unfinished. so maybe it'S not so good an ending, but maybe I'll add something next year.

******************

He knew he was having a nightmare. There was no other explanation for it. It felt like he was running down the streets of his precinct and yet he didn't seem to move. He didn't even know where he wanted to go, the only thing he remembered was that Faith was in danger and if he couldn't get to her in time, she'd die.

Suddenly a light flashed in front of him and he could see her, standing a few meters away, facing her torturer, who was looking at him. Grinning madly the other man turned and shot. Faith fell, but before he could do anything the other turned and shot again. The last thing he heard was insane laughter and her screams…

"Bosco! Bosco, wake up! You're scaring the nurses"

Slowly he came back into reality. No one was dying, no one was laughing. He was in the hospital and Faith was okay. He forced his eyes open and looked directly into her eyes. He immediately saw the concerned look. He glanced around the room and saw a woman standing at the door, staring at him, apparently scared. He glared at her and she blushed and left.

"What did I do?"

"You screamed and your heart rate was real high for a while. It took me forever to wake you."

"I had a nightmare…"

"I guessed as much. I couldn't sleep well either."

He stared at her intently. She was still too pale and her bruises had turned a slight shade of green now, so that she looked as if she was going to be sick the next moment. Immediately he felt guilty. What were his problems compared to hers?

"I'm sorry, I woke you. Maybe you should go home get some real sleep…"

She looked horrified so he added

"…or maybe not. Maybe you should stay here for the rest of the night. What time is it anyway?"

"About 4 a.m., you should sleep, so you can get outa here tomorrow. I think Swersky's going to want to talk to us."

"Oh, shit. I've got to explain why I was chasing a suspect on my day off. That's gonna be hell. I don't know what I'll tell him, I mean…"

He looked at her, seeing tear in her eyes.

"What's wrong? Did I say something?" he inquired in an anxious tone. She wiped her tears away and slowly raised her head.

"Why? Why did you chase him? He could have hurt you. He did hurt you. When I found out you'd gone after him, my world disappeared. All I could think about was that you were in danger. I ran so fast, and I ran and ran. And then I saw _him_. And at first I was so frightened I couldn't move, but then when he dragged me into that alley I thought, well if he's here with you Bosco's save. And that kinda calmed me you know?"

He'd listened to her, his eyes wide. He couldn't believe what she was saying. It didn't matter what happened to him, all that was important was, that she was okay.

"Faith," he told her, gently taking her hand into his, "I had to do it. I was not going to let that guy get away, after all he did…. And I was perfectly fine…"

"You were shot. You were almost killed. You call that fine?"

"I was not dying…" he tried to calm her.

"You apologized to me, remember? You apologized to me, because you thought you'd die. And I was so afraid."

This time he was really stunned. When did she jump to that conclusion?

"I was not apologizing for dying. I was apologizing for having you dragged into this mess. For not preventing this guy from getting a hold of you… again. It's my fault you had to see him again. It's my fault you had to shoot him. It's my fault that you had to kill someone tonight, even when I'm not sorry that he's dead. I just wished it wouldn't have to be you who did it…"

Seeing her tears made him stop. Why'd everything have to be so screwed up? She stared at him, her expression unreadable.

Then she yanked her hand out of his and buried her face in it. Seeing her cry made him feel guilty and he wanted to take her into his arms to comfort her, but he was still hooked up to that stupid IV.

"Faith," he pleaded, "please understand that I had to do this, but I never wanted you to get involved. That's why I left you at the house, I was hoping they'd keep an eye on you. Apparently they didn't. I'm going to have a serious talk with who ever told you where I was…"

He was rambling now, because he didn't know what to say anymore. Finally she wiped at her tears and looked at him.

"Do you realize how scared I was? I thought… I thought you were going to die. You were out there, alone. Without anyone to back you up. Without me to back you up. And I was scaared to death. I kept thinking, if I can't protect myself the least I could do was protecting you. And it didn't work. You were shot. And I don't believe that you were entirely sure you'd make it. And when I was sitting in that room downstairs, all I could feel was this fear that you'd be gone forever. And I couldn't bear that. I can't live without you, you've always been there for me and I need you. So never do that again. You hear me? Never."

Bosco knew that what she was saying was completely true and he realized how stupid he'd been and how selfish. After all that she'd been through he had added to her pain. He grabbed her hand and pulled her to his side.

"Never again. I promise."

She nodded, fighting the tears.

"Okay."

*************

The next day, Bosco was leaving the hospital, although the doctor told him he should stay a little longer. But he absolutely hated hospitals and Sully and Davis came to pick him and Faith up and get them to the house, so both could make their statements. Surprisingly, Swersky wasn't too pissed at Bosco and told him to take a few days sick leave. The whole time Bosco held Faith's hand, not caring what everybody would think. Eventually they were finished and they got into the Mustang that was still standing where he'd left it the day before.

Bosco and Faith sat on the backseat, because neither of them were in a state to drive safely, but when Sully tried to sit in the drivers seat, Bosco began shouting at him.

"There's no way in hell I'm gonna let you drive my car. You'd wreck it. Let Davis drive."

"Bosco, I'm not going to wreck your precious baby, okay?" he grunted and put the key into ignition. But Bosco wasn't the type to give in.

"This "precious baby" has gears, you know that, do you?"

The surprised look on the other officer's face told that he didn't.

"See. You've never learnt how to drive a decent car. So now get the hell outa here and let Davis drive or I'm gonna kick your ass."

Sully shot him a murderous glance, but got out of the car and called for his partner.

When Bosco leaned back with a sigh, he saw a weak smile on his partner's face. He was glad that he could still make her a little happier than she was before, even when it was because of his temper. The drive to his apartment didn't take long and after he'd gotten a duffel bag with some stuff, Davis drove them to Faith's. They has agreed that it would be best staying at her apartment together for a while. The main reason was that she didn't want to be alone. Although the bastard was dead she didn't really feel safe, except when he was there with her. At her house, they said Good Bye to Sully and Davis and watched them drive away in 55-Charlie.

"You know, I'd like to be in 55-David right now. I mean if all this never happened we'd be at work right now. I'd chase some dope dealer and you'd shout at me for not taking the car. Everything would be normal." Bosco said with a sigh.

"Yeah, at least as normal as ever." Came the sad reply, but he was not going to let her be miserable right now.

He grabbed her by the hand and pulled her towards the entrance.

"Come on. I'm hungry. I seriously hope you've something to eat in your fridge."

Faith looked as though she thought he was crazy, but said something about leftovers. While she was in the kitchen warming up some spaghetti, Bosco sat on the couch and thought about what he was going to do now. Although he was no shrink, he guessed that Faith was still in shock and it would be some time till she was going to be halfway okay and he didn't know if there was anything he could do to make things easier for her. And there was still stuff that was unresolved.

"What are you thinking about, Bos?"

The sound of her voice startled him and so he didn't think about his reply.

"Fred."

"Fred? Why the hell are you thinking about him?" she asked, confused.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have mentioned it. But you startled me…"

"Shouldn't have mentioned what?" she was so damned curious, he thought.

"Uh, you know what I said yesterday? About killing Fred? I'm thinking about how to do it. You think ripping his beating heart out is painful? Or should I cut him to pieces and see to it that he doesn't pass out?"

"That's a bit excessive don't you think? I mean… no one's gonna think that he cares about me anymore, if we're divorced," she said with a smile.

"Divorced?" he was stunned. This was something new. Although she'd been going about Fred for some time now, he'd never think she'd get a divorce. That was one reason why he'd wondered about her kissing him. But this opened up a whole new perspective.

"So that means, if you're divorced, you could start dating again?" he teased, but immediately regretted it when he saw her smile fading.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have…" he apologized, however she didn't let him finish. She put the plate down she'd been holding and seated herself beside him. Taking his hand she said:

"It's okay. I… I just don't know if I'm ready for that, you know? After all that's happened, I think I need some time."

"I understand"

And, although it was kind of macabre, he thought that there had come something good from the past two days: he and Faith were closer than ever. And he felt like there was something even better waiting for them in the future. It might take both some time to recover from the events, especially Faith, but he could see the silver lining behind the cloud. And as they sat on her couch, their hands intertwined he couldn't help smiling at what everyone at work would think if they saw them right now.

Well, who would have thought?

****************

The end. Hopefully.

Please review, please!


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